OUR PICK OF GORGEOUS GIFT BOOKS TO INSPIRE AND DELIGHT
Gifts for book lovers
Celebrate imperfect veg and a love of trees with these colourful Scottish-made bookmarks – the perfect stocking filler; £10 each. arkcolourdesign.com
Squirrel & Sunflower giftwrap by Mark Hearld, £2.50; 10m roll of fabric ribbon, £7.50; Pop-out robin by Alice Melvin, £4, all from blackbough.co.uk Wonky Carrot and Tree Hugger bookmarks, £10 each, arkcolourdesign.co.uk. Sentai garden scissors, £32, niwaki.com
TWO FOR JOY
Countryfile presenter and Cotswolds farmer Adam Henson offers delightful and meaningful ways to reconnect with the British countryside in this journey through the seasons. Learn which birds to listen for in spring, find out what’s happening on the farm each month of the year, read the stories behind countryside superstitions, identify animal footprints and try a spot of stargazing, too.
ARBORETUM
The latest in the beautifully illustrated large-format Welcome to the Museum series, Arboretum introduces young readers to trees from around the world and celebrates the vital role they play in sustaining life on this planet. Learn about mighty oaks and towering redwoods, plus exotic and unusual trees, through Katie Scott’s exquisite botanical drawings.
THE KEW GARDENS COOKBOOK
This inspiring collection of over 60 exciting vegetarian recipes celebrates the many and varied ways plants can be used in the kitchen, with the wisdom of celebrated chefs and food writers, such as Yotam Ottolenghi, Rukmini Iyer and Thomasina Miers. Organised in six sections – including ‘Leaves’ and ‘Grains and Pulses’ – this book is sure to broaden culinary repertoires.
WILD: TALES FROM EARLY MEDIEVAL BRITAIN
Inspired by the words and images that survive from early medieval Britain, artist and medievalist Amy Jeffs has produced an extraordinarily multidimensional book. She moves from creative retellings of the stories to explanations of the texts and where they came from. Jeffs invites us to join her at the threshold of the early medieval imagination. Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
FORTY FARMS
In March 2021, award-winning photographer Amy Bateman set out to tell the visual story of forty Cumbrian farms, at a time of profound change for our landscapes, climate and economy. From isolated farmsteads to businesses at the cutting edge of innovation, from Herdwickgrazing to cheese-making, this remarkable book offers illuminating insights into the everyday lives of extraordinary farmers.
REGENESIS
Subtitled Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet, here, seasoned environmental campaigner George Monbiot calls for a revolution in the way we think about food production. Meticulously referenced, he draws on new soil ecology research that could allow us to farm less and restore our ecosystems while feeding more people. A hopeful vision of how we can rethink our relationship with nature.
MEADOW
Traditional hay meadows are the rarest, and surely most beguiling, of all our farming landscapes. Jim Holden’s photography captures the vibrancy of these heavenly places. To accompany the images, Iain Parkinson has gathered interviews with horticulturalists, ecologists, craftspeople and artists. Fragile relics of a bygone era, hay meadows can yet show us a better way of living with the land.
COUNTRY CHURCH MONUMENTS
Over the span of 25 years, CB Newham visited over 8,000 rural churches in England and Wales, photographing and cataloguing their monumental funerary sculptures, from medieval brasses to marble effigies. Here he presents 365 of the finest, along with biographies of the deceased and their sculptors, creating a poignant record of often-forgotten art.
LANDLINES
Following The Salt Path, where Raynor Winn and her husband Moth walk the South West Coast Path, Winn’s latest book finds them taking on the formidable Cape Wrath Trail in the Scottish Highlands. They are no longer homeless nor penniless, but Moth’s health is deteriorating. Despite rain, wind and ill-fitting boots, they revel in their surroundings and find healing in the immersion in nature.
BIRDS
Most famous for his comedy TV shows, Jim Moir, AKA Vic Reeves, is also a successful artist. With a short foreward by Chris Packham, this charming book brings together 100 of his beautifully detailed bird portraits, each with a brief accompanying fun fact. King James I kept an aviary of cormorants to catch his fish; the barn owl’s neck has twice as many vertebrae as a human’s, and wee puffins are ‘pufflings’.
THE SECRET WORLD OF PLANTS
A treasure trove for children (aged seven and over) interested in the natural world, this gorgeous gilded book clearly explains the essentials of plant science and unveils the mysteries of more than 100 varieties of fascinating flora. Learn about plants with seeds the size of footballs, how seagrass flowers underwater and find out which moss was used instead of nappies!
THE BIGGEST FOOTPRINT
Ever heard of smoosh theory? Making use of mind-boggling maths, the Sears brothers bring the issue of climate change into sharp relief in this fact-packed book, winner of the 2022 Wainwright Prize for Children’s Nature and Conservation Writing. The brothers’ beautifully illustrated giant smooshed human slowly starts to understand the problems it has created for the planet, and how it might fix this “mega mess”.
A WILD CHILD’S BOOK OF BIRDS
Teenage naturalist and award-winning author Dara McAnulty’s second book in the Wild Child series – with vibrant illustrations by Barry Falls – takes us through a year in the life of British and Irish birds. Dara’s passion for birds shines as he writes in poetic prose about beak shapes, nests, the wonders of migration and the science of flight. A perfect gift for budding birders.
GREAT TREES OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew arboretum manager Tony Hall profiles over 70 of our most majestic trees, avenues and forests in this beautifully photographed book. Explore remnants of the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands, learn about the ancient yew growing in the cloister of Ireland’s Muckross Abbey and discover Welsh oaks that witnessed 12th-century battles.
NO DIG
Want a thriving and productive veg plot without the back-breaking digging? No-dig expert Charles Dowding helps you grow bumper crops in harmony with nature, by preserving soil structure and nurturing fungal mycelium, in this inspiring all-new guide. There’s step-by-step advice and photography to illustrate each part of the process, and calendars show what time of year to sow and harvest over 80 crops.
THE TRESPASSER’S COMPANION
Nick Hayes takes the ideas of his first title The Book of Trespass and presents them as a manifesto for change, complete with a how-to guide to reclaiming the access to nature that is already ours. We have been trained to revere the exclusive partitioning of the vast majority of our land; Hayes gives us the facts and the permission to widen our horizons.
OUTSIDE
Award-winning food writer and River Cottage star Gill Meller brings a thoughtful and inspired approach to outdoor cooking – from beachside fires to back-garden barbecues – in this gorgeous seasonal cookbook. Go foraging and try wild garlic polenta with barbecued asparagus and crispy stinging nettles, or place flatbreads on the grill with chilli and sausage, burrata and herbs – areal foodie’s delight.
100 GREAT PUB WALKS
What better gift for a rambler than this delightful, clearly written and well researched guide to some of the UK’s best walks with watering holes en route? The descriptions include local history facts and seasonal nature to spot, and each walk is organised by region and graded according to difficulty. With ‘How to get there’ details and an easy-to-follow map, plus an OS Map reference, this is the ideal companion.
Festive programmes
Don’t miss our round-up of countryside Christmas TV and radio in our January issue, on sale December 15.